![A person's finger touching the end of a bundle of illuminated fiber optic cables](/sites/default/files/styles/ucd_panoramic_image/public/media/images/fiber-optics-discovery-uc-davis.jpg?h=8e58fdb5&itok=eLi4cu2O)
In 1997, when broadband communications and the “World Wide Web” were both in their infancy, two UC Davis professors and a graduate student came up with a better way to route data in fiber optic networks. The “wavelength selective switch,” or WSS, uses two micro-mirror arrays, consisting of many miniscule mirrors, that can separate the input optical beams by wavelength and then redirect the signals. Their patented technology became a critical component for data transmission in multi-wavelength fiber optic communication systems around the globe, bringing internet and phone traffic to millions of people.